If there’s one thing more predictable than a politician kissing babies during election season, it’s Democrats throwing a fit when they lose control over a system they use to rig elections as often as they can.
In Texas, the battle over redistricting has reached a fever pitch as Republicans push to redraw electoral maps in a way that strengthens their hold on the state legislature – a move Democrats claim is unfair, even though they’ve long embraced gerrymandering when it benefits them.
In protest, a group of Texas Democrats fled the state in a high-profile stunt to block the GOP from reaching the quorum needed to pass the redistricting plan. Their absence has stalled the legislative process and sparked national headlines, but critics argue it’s less about protecting “democracy” and more about avoiding political defeat. And let’s be honest: Democrats don’t hate gerrymandering. They hate not being in charge of it.
The irony? These same Democrats are aligned with groups like Eric Holder’s “National Democratic Redistricting Committee [1]” – which openly works to gerrymander in favor of Democrats nationwide. When Republicans do it, it’s a crisis. When Democrats do it, it’s “reform.”
According to Merriam-Webster, gerrymandering means to “the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections.” According to Democrats, it’s only a problem when Republicans do it. When Democrats redraw the lines to carve up swing districts like a Thanksgiving turkey, it’s “equity” and “fair.” When the GOP does it? Suddenly it’s an “existential threat to democracy.”
Do a little Googling on Obama’s former AG Eric Holder. He’s made pro-Democrat gerrymandering his full-time job with his National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Their website says, “There’s no longer an ‘off season’ in redistricting. Redistricting is a crucial part of the fight to protect democracy, and it is ongoing. If we do not stay diligent, we will lose the progress towards fairness for which we have fought so hard.”
The code words of “fairness” and “democracy” = Democratic wins.
But now that we have Republicans in Texas fighting back to have some representation, the Democrats are having a temper tantrum. Instead of doing their jobs, these lawmakers pulled a dramatic disappearing act, hopping on planes and fleeing Texas like fugitives from fairness. Why? Because Republicans are trying to undo the very same partisan cartography Democrats have used for years to stack the deck.
There are two problems with the way we vote today. Well, actually, there are about 100+ problems but I’m going to concentrate on two of them right now.
#1 Illegal aliens are counted in representation for U.S. House seats. You don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out that packing districts with non-citizens inflates representation in Democrat strongholds, while diluting the voting power of actual citizens elsewhere. But that’s “fair” if you’re the party benefiting.
#2 Gerrymandering sucks. Yes, I don’t believe in it – for either side.
I think the solution is simple. Instead of letting political hacks on both sides redraw the lines like toddlers fighting over crayons, representation needs to be allotted by county – the same way we handle local government. That would stop this circus in its tracks for all time to come. And maybe, just maybe, force politicians to actually represent all of their constituents, not just the ones with the right party affiliation or immigration status.